Tag Archives: presence

Britain is sending another warship to the Gulf to defend freedom of navigation, the defence minister said on Saturday, after Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in the region. Tensions have risen between Iran and Britain after Iranian commandos seized a British-flagged tanker last month.

The presence of America and Britain in the Gulf region brings insecurity, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards navy, Alireza Tangsiri, was reported as saying by the ILNA news agency. Tensions have spiked between Iran and the U.S. and Britain in the Gulf after the Islamic Republic shot down an American drone in June and seized a British tanker last month for violating maritime regulations. Iran seized the tanker two weeks after British Royal Marines detained an Iranian tanker on suspicion of violating European Union sanctions by taking oil to Syria, a close ally of Iran.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's president hit back at Donald Trump Monday for saying U.S. troops should stay in Iraq to keep an eye on neighboring Iran, saying the U.S. leader did not ask for Iraq's permission to do so.

Iran said that the U.S. military presence in Syria had been “a mistake, illogical and a source of tension”, in Tehran’s first reaction to President Donald Trump’s planned pull-out. Trump has begun what will be a total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, saying on Wednesday they had succeeded in their mission to defeat Islamic State and were no longer needed in the country. “From the start, the entry and presence of American forces in the region has been a mistake, illogical and a source of tension, and a main cause of instability,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by state media on Saturday.

The Kremlin expressed concern on Monday over media reports that Poland has requested a permanent U.S. military presence on its soil, saying NATO’s expansion towards Russia’s borders undermined stability in Europe. Warsaw could offer up to $ 2 billion in funding for such a military presence, according to a Polish Defense Ministry proposal reported by Polish media. A government source in Poland confirmed to Reuters such a proposal had been made.

Keir Simmons, NBC News foreign correspondent, reports live from Moscow on the Russian concerns in Syria and considerations made of the Russian presence by the joint strike by U.S., Britain, and France.

Japan’s military on Saturday launched its first Marines unit, tasked with defending remote islands in the face of China’s growing maritime presence in the region. The Self-Defence Forces’ amphibious fighting unit staged an exercise with US Marines at Sasebo in western Japan following the inauguration ceremony. The 2,100-member brigade, based in Sasebo, will be responsible for defending remote islands and retaking them if they are invaded.